The 99-bed hospital is now talking to three other hospitals it invited last year to submit affiliation proposals, said Roz McCormick, an Auburn vice president. Those hospitals are Upstate Medical University and St. Joseph’s Hospital Health Center in Syracuse and Strong Memorial in Rochester.

Auburn and Rochester General reached a mutual decision late last week to end their affiliation discussions, McCormick said.

“The due diligence process helped us to better understand the community’s concern about potentially losing relationships with the healthcare providers they already know,” Scott A. Berlucchi, Auburn’s president and CEO, said in a prepared statement.

Many Auburn patients needing heart surgery and other types of specialized care unavailable at Auburn Community have traditionally been referred to Syracuse hospitals.

Auburn and Rochester General spent four months exploring a possible affiliation.

Auburn officials have said they are looking for a strong partner willing to make a financial commitment to the hospital. Auburn filed bankruptcy in 2007. Since then it has completed a financial and operational turnaround.

Many Upstate hospitals are looking at mergers and affiliations. Upstate Medical University acquired Community General Hospital in Syracuse last year. Crouse Hospital in Syracuse is finalizing an affiliation with Community Memorial in Hamilton.

Hospitals are doing this to save money and improve efficiency in anticipation of further cuts in payments from Medicare and Medicaid, government health insurance programs.